The pictures[D] are well lighted, in a tolerable state of preservation, and are arranged with some method. The compositions of Murillo immediately attract attention. There are more than twenty in number, almost all of which are ranged in the nave of the Salón. The seventeen pictures, painted for the Capuchin Convent, are the most important. The finest is Santo Tomás de Villanueva socorrierdo á los pobres[E] (rendering succour to the poor). Murillo esteemed this picture above all his works, and was wont to call it _su lienzo_ (his own picture). In literary conception the work has much merit. It is executed in the misty, _vaporoso_ manner. The light is skilfully handled and the figure of the saint is well realised. Robed in black, and bearing a white mitre in his hand, he stands at the door of his Cathedral, ministering to the needs of a beggar; whose feeble form, clad in filthy rags, affords a fine contrast with the calm beauty of the saint. Penurious men and women, waiting to be relieved, stand grouped in the foreground. The little urchin, who exultingly exhibits the _maravedis_ which have fallen to his share, is a typical Murillo beggar-boy. The two fine pictures of San Antonio with the infant Jesus are both instances of Murillo's latest manner. A similar picture is the Virgin revealing herself to San Félix de Cantalicio. The outlines in all three pictures are obliterated, lost in a haze of misty vapour. The deposition of the drapery in St. Leander and St. Buenaventura is admirable. The picture of Santas Justas y Rufina, supporting the famous Giralda Tower, to guard it from the ravages of the tempest, should be compared with the picture of the same saints by Francisco Goya, in the _Sacristía de los Cálices_, in the Cathedral. In the composition of Goya we have an instance of a saintly subject treated in a realistic manner; Murillo follows the accustomed mode and depicts the maidens as holy saints, crowned with halos of glory. The fable that the picture of La Virgen con el Niño Jesús was painted upon a serviette has no foundation, as can readily be seen by examining the panel upon which the study is painted. The story, which is very widely credited, says that the cook at the Capuchin Convent, having rendered Murillo some service, was asked by him what recompense he desired. He at once craved a sketch from the hand of the great master. Murillo, according to the fable, took the serviette which the cook was carrying, and with a few rapid touches of his brush created the picture, which is still noteworthy for the brilliancy of its tints. [Illustration: THE CONCEPTION _Murillo_]